


Under the Knight's Thrall

by MxApfel (RukaIsAFan)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A flimsy plot, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Anal Sex, Black is an unicorn, Blow Jobs, Bondage, Damsels in Distress, Erotic Food, Evil!Keith, M/M, Now you must marry me!, Pampering, Porn With Plot, Prince!Shiro, Sex Toys, Sexual Roleplay, costume porn, idk what else to tag, shiro in a dress, twist ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-08 22:56:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15253872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RukaIsAFan/pseuds/MxApfel
Summary: Prince Takashi Shirogane keeps getting himself into trouble throughout his adventures. As prince of a strong healthy kingdom and blessed by the Great Lion of the Sky, Shiro is always a target for rescuing those in distress and riding to the rescue on his trusty unicorn, Black.However, one day he wakes up wearing a gown of soft silk dripping with jewels and precious metals. He is a prisoner of the terrible dark paladin, Keith. Little does Shiro know what is in store for him when he becomes under the knight's thrall.





	Under the Knight's Thrall

**Author's Note:**

> Also known as Shiro in a dress, the costume porn. 
> 
> Written for the Voltron Kink Bang and in the manner of your grandma's romance novels!
> 
> Special thanks:  
> GravityDoll and Mondaijo, my ever-patient artists.  
> Starrie_Wolf for starting this idea in my head.  
> Xyriath for betaing my grammar-lacking butt with the powers of English. 
> 
> Art:  
> [Some spicy NSFW Shiro and Keith](https://mondainsfw.tumblr.com/post/176701134754/third-and-final-entry-for-the-voltronkinkbang-for) from Mondaijo! 
> 
> That out of the way: REREAD THE TAGS and keep them in mind.

“Thank you, your highness!”

Prince Takashi of the kingdom of Shirogane gave a courtly bow as he sheathed his sword. “Think nothing of it! As long as there is evil, I will do whatever I must to protect my kingdom and its people.”

With that, Shiro mounted his unicorn, Black (named so after its majestic coloration), and rode back to his castle.

It was his duty as the future ruler to serve his people. The candle in his chambers often burned long into the darkest of nights as he looked over documents, feuds and budgets concerns all requesting the prince's fair judgment. Paperwork and bureaucracy made the kingdom run smoothly, but it still required time to read over and sign the paperwork.

Princesses had to be saved from evil wizards, and often he would have to decline their offers of pure affections out of his oath to the crown. When witches threatened to poison the villages' wells, Shiro rode in to confront them and foil their dastardly deeds. When a dragon severed his sword arm with foul magics, Shiro made a speedy recovery and requested the court wizard to fashion him an arm so he could continue his vigilance over the land.

He was a prince, born to lead and protect the land that had faith in him to defend them in their time of need. With a silver crown upon his head and gilded armor to protect him from blows and foul magics, Shiro served faithfully, as he loved his kingdom. From the black woods filled with folklore and magics to the mountains where dragons lay and the hymns and chants of the folk warmed their spirits on the windy days, all of his kingdom trusted him to defend them. Despite their offers to help him, he rejected all but simple meals and blessings. After all, as their future king, he had the riches of the kingdom. It would be unkind to ask more from them.

The unicorn steed carried on from the village tucked away within the woods. Shiro smiled as sprites and fairies soared next to him, leaving glittering trails behind them that sparkled in the artificial night of the woods. It left a smile on Shiro's face: even in the woods where the trees blocked the sun, there was still light.

The reverie ended slowly, and if it weren’t for Shiro’s keen senses, he wouldn’t have detected that the fae had fled and that Black had sensed lingering magical energies in the environment that caused the atmosphere to change as they stepped out into a meadow in the middle of woods.

Even though it was midday, the sky morphed into a pitch black. And yet, the purples, pinks, and reds of the grasses and wildflowers still kept their lumination. Only the wind was in Shiro’s ears as he tightened his grip on the black leather reins. Shadows danced upon the corners of his sight; if he reached to the trees on the other side he would be safe from whatever was affecting this meadow of night and be safely back into the woods

He heard a cry.

Shiro spotted a red cloak in the distance, crouching over itself as if in distress. Black kept his pace even though Shiro felt his heart speed up. The cries were for help, the cloaked being (as not all who needed his help were human) made sounds of despair and desperation that pulled on Shiro’s mind and being the noble he was, he couldn’t help to come to the being’s aid.

Black stopped before the red-cloaked being, who stood up, as Shiro deciphered from its sobs stopping as it saw the crown prince come forth to its aid

The red cloak fluttered in as the wind picked up, and Shiro felt a chill down his spine. He couldn’t see a face under the hood, only black.

“What ails you, my good friend?” Shiro always prepared his most genial tone for encounters like these.

The figure stood silent, only the dramatic fluttering of the cloak making a sound.

“Please. Don’t be frightened. I am Prince Takashi.” Shiro gave a welcoming smile.

Silence again, and Shiro opened his mouth to speak.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the voice rasped, and Shiro knew immediately who the voice belonged to.

Before he could command Black to jolt forward, shadowy limbs grabbed him and pulled him off the unicorn onto the ground.

“Run, Black!” Shiro shouted and Black, the faithful unicorn, ran off as the hands dragged Shiro flat to the dirt.

The Prince twisted up, and the wind ripped away the red cloak. Underneath the castoff fabric, the Prince glimpsed the black armor of a knight with a sword on his hip and a shield on his back. Dark spikes and violet magics coursed through the designs on the armor, a black ragged cape fluttering behind. Even for all his fearful appearance, one trait made even the bravest of warriors doubt their strength: under the small thin black circlet he wore were two glowing indigo eyes.

“The Dark Paladin Keith!” Shiro hissed as the paladin flashed him a smirk.

The Prince had met this man many times in battle: the Dark Paladin was a mighty magic knight, wielder of sword and arcane, who commanded shadows. He was a powerful knight, and not one to be trifled with.

“Say goodnight, Shiro.” Keith’s mouth twisted into a smile.

Shiro couldn’t scream.

His whole world went dark.

* * *

 

Shiro opened his eyes. Everything was almost dark as it was before, but a softness around him comforted to his sore muscles. He shifted his body, but something restrained him from behind. Blinking away more of his sleep away, the Prince’s eyes adjusted to see that he was in a dark stone room lit by the few beeswax candles. Fine ebony wood furniture with carved details and upholstery of deep rich silks in bejeweled colors furnished his surroundings. A rug made of the skin of a dire wolf laid on the floor that told him that the icy cold temperature that prickle his flesh was the norm.

He shifted his head and felt the brush of thin twisted metals and gems; was he wearing earrings? A dressing mirror caught his attention and his breath hitched at his reflection.

The armor and undergarments he wore were removed; instead, he wore an embroidered dress of white. Leaves of silver wrapped around his chest, spiraling in density around his waist and branching out from the center. In sections that accented the low neckline and his waist, metal disk sequins sewn to form black flowers. He felt stiffness around his midsection... was he wearing a corset underneath?

Oh, no. It wasn’t just the corset; thin delicate lace stockings in a soft lilac hue embraced to his legs, likely made of silk as well. Shiro slipped the dress’s skirt up with his foot, revealing layers of organza petticoats until he the fear he held in his heart was confirmed. Instead of his pragmatic undergarments, he wore shiny silk underwear in a matching lilac color with a garter belt embroidered to match the dress.

The Dark Paladin had no scruples.

The vile villain had not only stolen him but stripped him of his armor and… and humiliated him. The Prince was now vulnerable and weak, and the man had taken advantage of that to turn him into a doll for a few hours.

Or, Shiro realized with a jolt, possibly days.

Shiro tugged on the restraints and realized that they were heavy chains, binding both his wrists and mid-biceps together. Though he tried with all his might, the chains did not budge. He was glued to the spot until his captor comes to bring the Prince before him as all villains do.

When he did not come, Shiro felt his heart weep. While his body was strong, his mind was weakening, his patience thinning with each tick of the large grandfather clock. He gritted his teeth and turned to the clock in an attempt to pass his time analyzing the dark stained wood with brass inlaid designs.

Carved scenes surrounded the clock's face: a knight saving a princess. A typical children's story told to the restless young at night.

The craftsman of the clock added bats and unicorns framing it was strange... and the princess had a singular spiral horn while the knight had vampiric bat wings.

Shiro changed his mind, this wasn't a typical children's story carved into a grandfather clock. Whoever designed or commissioned it must have had some strange ideas.

The Prince shifted uncomfortable, trying to find some way to keep his muscles and joints from locking. The novelty of memorizing every detail of the room was gone (dark, cold, and opulent but not gaudy) and he kept locking onto the swinging pendulum of the clock as it was the only object that capable of movement at that moment.

Heavier and heavier his eyes become, his thoughts slowed and transitioning into a dissociated state.

When the door opened, Shiro snapped back into awareness and remembered his anger.

There was a person at the door -well not a real person. A shadow shaped into a large hulking humanlike being mimicked something truly sentient. The shadow glided forward; it had no need to walk on the stone floor as Shiro knew that from his battles with these creatures. There is no will, no soul residing in it and any attempts to communicate or reason with it will result in failure.

Shiro also knew he was in no state to fight.

The Prince let it grab his chains and pulled him up to his feet. He wobbled in the heels that emphasized his stature and even made it more poignant his towering height. The shadows didn’t care how he shifted his hips side to side to recenter his gravity with each step he took as they marched him out of the room. Or how the fabric brushed against his legs, making him notice how feather-light and soft they felt compared to his armor and leather pants.

Every movement made him aware of what he was wearing, from the corset that hugged his waist to the stockings that somehow kept his legs warm despite the chill. Even the underwear he wore felt odd against his genitals, as if….

They started to walk in a hallway of mirrors and Shiro’s instinct took over as he saw his face. His hair had been styled, and it looked as if his usual stubble was shaved clean as well. Of course, they would shave other areas of his body. They put so much into putting him into this costume that they would have done everything else to him as well.

It was subtle but he was wearing makeup, thin eyeliner, mascara to make his lashes, even more, pronounced, a small wash of lilac on his lids, and some frosty pale pink on his lips. It was still him and not some painted mockery.

Shiro knew that wasn’t a good thing and he needed to escape. There was a hall of mirrors. He should have kept count of steps. They traversed into another corridor where rows of arched windows lined one side with broken glass edging them.

The Prince looked to see the grey skies with heavy clouds overhead a garden. It was near the point of overgrown from he could see. There were high walls around it but there was a gazebo at the edge of the path and many ponds, trees, and flowers.

The castle was huge and his room was several stories up. His escape would take more time to plan.

After the corridor, they passed into a disused ballroom covered in bleached white dust cloths from floor to ceiling and passed many small doors and other hallways. The Prince knew their final destination as battle-worn red banners and torn runner hung from the ceiling in front of an imposing staircase of broken black marble.

It was leading to a throne room where Keith stood because if nothing else the Dark Paladin enjoyed making Shiro squirm.

He carefully climbed the steps, embarrassment filling his gut as how the shadow seemed to wait for him and look warily at him with the small illuminate shapes on its ‘face’ as if it was worried about him tripping. Shiro will convert that embarrassment to anger soon as he was not something dainty and easily controlled.

The large ebony wood door had seen better decades and yet it still worked as the door opened to reveal rows of empty dark twisted armor, each with a shadow in front of it. Torn red and black standards flanked each set of armor. Shiro was walking on the red carpet as a carved and chipped obsidian throne was on a dais.

The Dark Paladin Keith lounged in that throne with a glass flute in his hand, looking bored until he noticed Shiro being led towards him.

Keith stood up, with his diadem of uneven dragon’s horn glimmering in his raven black hair. The sharp pointed segments of his armor shifted as the Dark Paladin stepped forward, his threadbare and torn partial cape fluttering behind him. Shiro could practically see the cold rolling off Keith’s body with as those burning indigo eyes inspecting him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Shiro all but spatted.

The paladin sipped his champagne, walking around Shiro with hungry eyes. Shiro gritted his teeth and flinched whenever the man came near.

"What is your game?" Shiro kept talking, frustration rising.

"My game? This is no game," Keith rounded behind him, humming a dirge, "You're so loyal to your kingdom, your highness."

"I swore an oath to protect it on the cusp of my thirteenth birthday," justified Shiro. It was true, he was raised to take that oath. His life was bound to it as the heir.

Keith kneeled down, eye to eye to him, and took a long sip from his flute. The indigo eyes never straying from Shiro's gray.

"A pity that you'll become an oathbreaker. Then again, I can be negotiated with," Keith smirked, "Either way, I will get what I want."

"You're a scoundrel! A wicked man!"

Keith nonchalantly rolled back on his feet to stand, "We all have that potential in our hearts, Prince Takashi."

Shiro bit back the insults in his throat. They weren't giving him any opening as the Dark Paladin rolled them off his back. The armored man strolled to his throne, dropping the empty glass to side. It landed without shattering on a tray held up by the Dark Paladin's shadow hands. A show of power, nothing more.

"It's that potential in you that I'm interested in," Keith folded his hands, "You would practically wear a hair shirt if it pleased your subjects. Eat the simplest foods. Wear sturdy clothes. Deny yourself the luxuries your station can afford."

A frown formed on Shiro's face. What did that have to do with this? He was wearing a dress with heels that made him feel like a giant! He was scrubbed like a prized animal for auction!

"You're honorable and strong. You're perfect," Keith tilted his head with a longing gaze as if he was taking in Shiro's appearance. "You're perfect to be my consort, your highness. I will marry you."

The Prince felt time come to a complete stop as if reality snapped as the outlandish demand. The Dark Paladin is mad to even have the thought of Shiro being swayed by baubles and finery to give up his pledge of coming to the aid of meek and strong alike.

Keith was looking at him with the hunger matching a starving wolf as if Shiro’s indignation to become nothing more than the prized stag was tempting the Dark Paladin more.

His nerves snap, “You will have a better chance of slaying the immortal Moon Priestess than thinking an oathsworn prince would willingly become your doll!”

The Dark Paladin’s eyes flicker darkly as his soul, but while Shiro aimed to incite him into a rage, the Dark Paladin’s mouth slipped into a smirk that a cat would be proud of.

“Prince Takashi, everyone thinks of you as pure as white snow. Selfishly working yourself to the bone. I assume that my sleeping spell gave you the first true rest you had in ages.”

Shiro flinched. The point was true as he must have had the first full night of rest instead of the two hours sleep he was lucky to have.

“Beautiful Shiro,” Keith was up from his throne with red torn hemmed cape fluttering behind him.

Shiro looked at those indigo eyes with furor.

Keith grabbed Shiro’s jaw, “I want to see you be selfish. I want to see you greedy and demanding. There’s darkness in your heart, even as you deny it every waking moment. You’re not that immaculate picture your kingdom paints. You will be my consort for that very reason.”

The armored grip was released and Shiro heard himself panting from the rush.

Such insanity could only come from the mind of a depraved soul as he shifted in weighted chains. His blood was red hot with this  insult . The shadows holding the chains tighten and the Prince thrashed to loosen them. He felt the cold hit against his chest as he opened mouth, teeth wide and bearing to inflict pain as he saw Keith come to him. He wanted to strike and put an end to this circus! To end the slander he was hearing.

Keith’s laugh rang like bells.

Shiro’s back was on the cold stone, Keith was straddling him.

“I like it when you struggle, your highness,” that grin was back and Keith’s pink tongue peeked out from his lips.

It was so childi-!

His body shivered as warm and wet touched his nipple. He looked down and at some time during his struggle, it slipped out of the neckline of the dress. A mistaken sign that a predator like Keith took. Shiro’s face cinched as the villain took another flick with his tongue, biting his lip to keep himself together and not notice how he felt flush. The sensation was overloading him.

He softly whined when Keith pulled up from his chest.

With hair strewn about his face and lips wet, the Dark Paladin spoke, “My heroic prince, you want to be seduced so very much. You try to be good when all you want is to be bad. Be selfish. You want an excuse. That’s what all good little heroics princes want. An excuse to become tyrants: greedy and vain.”

“How dare you!” Shiro screamed in indignation as his blood boiled in his veins. He will break these chains off with his bare hands to slap Keith. His body started to pull from the floor and struggle against the chains and the bastard was grinning at him as if he was enjoying this.

Keith whisk his hand out with a snap, “I prefer to not play nurse tonight, Shiro.”

With the motion ribbons of shadow wrapped around Shiro’s body as the Prince gritted his teeth. Shiro couldn’t struggle as a final shadow lay over his eyes and obscuring any vision.

With a blink, Shiro could see and move. He was unchained and laying on the bed he woke up in.

Shiro screamed in pent-up frustration.

 

* * *

After pacing around the perimeter, kicking off the heels to walk flat despite the freezing floor, Shiro sat down in front of a vanity on a midnight blue silk cushioned stool, the only seat in the room besides the bed. It matched the vanity with the detailed carvings of lions with gemstone eyes of different colors.

Shiro knew he should undress, and while he wiped the bit of makeup off his face, there was only a set of clothes in the entire room and he was wearing them. Now that he was able to fully inspect the room, he rattled door knob -locked, of course- and the small windows behind the curtains that he found had bars on them as if Keith knew Shiro would attempt escape. Or maybe the Dark Paladin wanted to make it clear that Shiro was nothing more than a sweet songbird locked in a gilded cage.

While Shiro could have fully undressed and used the bedclothes to keep warm, Keith could and would intrude on Shiro for whatever disturbing intentions and desires he held in in his heart. And that terrified the heroic Prince, that the Dark Paladin, who Shiro had fought with before, harbor such machinations toward him. Even if Keith truly desired Shiro as his consort, he had shown that Shiro would be a shadow of himself.

He would never see Black, his beloved unicorn who he had befriended during a stormy night. He would never again visit with Allura the immortal Moon Priestess and ask for a piece of ancient knowledge. His three squires, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance, who had become less than subordinates and more like friends, would no doubt carry on without him, but they were young and inexperienced. He would never walk through his palace’s garden at night with all the stars sparkling above him. Never again would he be able to bring light and good to—

The clock chimed loudly and clearly.

With that end of the last sharp ring, the Dark Paladin’s shadows manifested in front of the door, a large silver and mother of pearl chest held up by a bulky shadow.

The shadows gripped onto him and held him to the floor; the Prince’s heart thumped in his chest at the incoming danger. While he thought harm would come to his body, instead, they stripped his clothes away with little ceremony. Indeed, he realized that they had shaved his body hair clean off as the air hit his nether regions.

His face was wiped with a wet cloth soaked in a floral scented liquid. Before he could pull away from their loosen grips on him, his legs were in the air. He screamed and kicked as they dressed him in new undergarments. Their hands holding his leg up in a somewhat painful position was the only way they got the stockings on him, his back straightening as the laces on the underbust corset was tightened and tied. The only break he had was when they brought out pieces of the dress he was going to wear.

He had no time to retaliate as the shadows pulled him up and roughly thrust him into the short ruffle skirt on.  It left him barely any modesty, even as they tugged on the bodice and overskirt. The overskirt was made of multiple fabrics with two-tone bows that pinned up the draping of the skirt. It was long and full, with the exception of the front, where it opened to bear his legs and the short skirt. The bodice was off his shoulders, but had gathered short sleeves decorated with bows. The front had fabric trim and the neckline had a shaped ruffle imitating the soft ‘v’ of the neck.

The silver, black, with touches of blue on the dress were accented with a fascinator on his head, high heeled shoes with a ribbon tied in the back, and dainty gloves. Shiro squinted as the hands forced him still, repainting his face with a soft rose pigment on his lips.

Finally, after the shadows blotted his lips and reapplied the pigment, the Prince was relieved of the shadows' hold on him.

The Prince inhaled deeply to soothe the storm brewing within himself as he tugged at the overskirt to try to cover his legs. He could claim that it was the cold, but the stockings were warm and soft. It was risque and bold. The way the fabric and bows lay, he felt like he was offering a present to his kidnapper.

He wouldn’t budge. They would have to carry him out if he was leaving his room. He wasn’t a gift, a trinket, an object in the eye of his evil beholder. Gripping the bedpost with an iron will, Shiro narrowed his eyes and parted his lips with his intentions.

This was an ill-conceived adventure on his part as the Prince yelped as a band of black shadows yanked his wrists together and bound them tight. A ribbon of shadow connected to the bindings as a leash. At the strong tug, Shiro stepped forward to keep himself from falling.

Another tug. Another step.

Shiro finally swallowed his pride and kept the pace. At least this time, he would be able to keep track of his steps and build a mental map of the place.

After a long walk and heading down many stairs, Shiro stood before a large, dark wooden door with simple moldings, less opulent than the others in the castle he had seen. That made it more inviting than any other thing he has seen.

The doors opened with unseen hands, and if Shiro weren’t so taken in by the moment, he would have rolled his eyes at another display of Keith’s power over shadows. Before him stood tall tarnished silver candelabras, dull cream candlesticks aflame.  A plush carpet that consisted of blacks and reds in its design lay underneath a huge banquet table of dark cherry wood with inlaid obsidian inlaid. Instead of rows of matching chairs along the longest sides, only two sat on either end, plush and throne-like.

The table was set for two with a feast that rivaled and ultimately bested the lavish holiday meals of the dark winter celebrations. Spiced meats on silver platters and mulled wines in glass decanters surrounded simmering soups whose savory aromas wet Shiro’s mouth. Small cakes sat on tier trays, each with a  candied citrus on top.

“Come. Sit down, you must be famished. Or do you want me to help?”

Shiro looked behind to see the Dark Paladin standing there. Not in the armor, but in black breeches and a waistcoat with near-black red embroidery of lions. It reminded Shiro of Keith’s powers, making him an embodiment of shadows. The only exception was his skin, which looked milky white in lighting, and the ever-stark indigo.

“I-I can do it myself.” Shiro looked at the table and stepped forward, but his ankles were nowhere near used to the height of his shoes.

The Prince nearly fell to the floor, but Keith swiftly grabbed onto him and kept him stable as he fixed his footing. Red brightened Shiro’s cheeks at the newly-developed clumsiness shown to his enemy. 

Keith tsked. “There is no shame in needing help, Your Highness. Especially when one is as beautiful as you.”

Mockery it was, as Shiro furrowed his brows and silently pouted, as the Dark Paladin held his arm and guided him to the closest chair. He even went so far as to pull the chair out for Shiro and pushed it in when he sat in it. He wasn’t gentle.

“You’re delicate right now. Still angry, but so easy. Soon, when you accept my offer, you’ll be strong, sparkle like a diamond, light up the sky like the brightest of stars.”

“Stars die. They burn out,” Shiro caustically spat out as a shadow formed next to him.

“Dead stars still burn.” Keith sipped a glass of wine that he took from another shadowy servant as he sat across from Shiro. “Perhaps most of the lights we see in the night are just the legacies of the stars that have lived once so long ago.”

“What do you really want from me? Money? Fame?” Shiro ignored the servant serving food onto the engraved silver formal table.

“Like I said, I want you to be my consort. My beautiful, avaricious, enchanting consort.” The Dark Paladin looked smug as he started on the first course of canapes.

The Prince looked at the triangles of puff pastry: one had a mousse of some kind, with caviar, fresh cream, a slice of salmon on top, garnished with a herb that looked delicious. One had brie and apple, and another was simple foie-gra on a cracker. They looked delicious and rich, but they could be laced with something vile.

The Dark Paladin had declared that he wanted Shiro. So perhaps a concoction that sprung love from hearts where none could be found. From the battles he had fought against the Dark Paladin, Keith was known to cast spells as he swung his blades, but using elixirs and potions to do his dastardly deeds was not in his modus operandi. However, just because Keith hadn’t before did not mean he couldn’t start now.

“Not to your liking?”

He looked up to see those piercing eyes at him and Shiro recoiled with his back against his chair. “Are they poisoned?”

Keith grinned at his straightforwardness and took a sip of the white wine. “Of course not. I want you to be fed the finest available. Your Highness deserves nothing less than the best.”

Shiro looked at the brie and apple canape with a drizzle of sticky balsamic vinegar and carefully picked it up with his fingers. Casting his fortunes to the wind once more and trusting his captor, he bit into the canape. The sweetness of the apple contrasting with the mild nutty creaminess of the cheese and the sour of the balsamic vinegar danced upon his tongue. It was reasonably the first food he has eaten since the serving of bread, quark cheese, and salted pork that a kind farmer gave him in return for helping him mend a sheep pen on his ill-fated return to his castle.

He quickly finished and grabbed the caviar and salmon canape he had been eyeing before.

“You were starving, weren’t you?” Keith lazed back in his chair. “Let’s break protocol. You haven’t seen the  lamb  yet and I don’t want you to fall ill on the second course.”

Shiro looked up as Keith clapped, and the shadows came alive before him. A serving of bubbling duck consomme, a whole salt-baked sea bass, and filet mignon was placed to surround the huge cut of lamb with mint and cranberry jelly before him. Multiple goblets of liquors and wines were set next to him.

The Prince’s mouth hung open at all this food before him. There was no way he could eat all of this, and that Keith on other side was sipping away the consomme on his own set added to the waste.

“Eat as much or as little as you like.”

His soup spoon started to pick up some of the consomme and he thought of the commoners who would surely have their bellies full if they were given this food. Shiro picked and took small bites. It was all delicious. The food that was light was light as clouds and the heavy meats left his stomach satisfied and nourished.

The guilt was still there, however, and Shiro placed his fork down and looked at his outfit.

“Your mind weighs heavy.” Keith lowered the once filled with red wine glass goblet down.

“You will not win me over with treats.” Shiro lifted his eyes.

“Always ready for battle, Prince Takashi.” Keith smirked. “I love that about you.”

“I will bring you to justice.”

“So you say. Wasting your precious youth on the folly of justice when no crime has occurred. I rescued you as a good savior should.” Keith rubbed his fingers together as he closed his eyes.

“And what did you save me from?” He hunched his shoulders as Keith sat, watching Shiro like a naive child.

“Yourself.” Keith’s eyes snapped open to Shiro.

“I was in no need of rescuing. I am not a danger to myself.” As the Prince made to leap out of his chair, bands of shadows pulled him back into his seat.

“I have differing views of that. You have fine foods and new clothes. A warm bed and servants. Where would you have slept, a ditch off the road? What would have eaten, stale bread?” Keith sat up from his chair with a clear look of annoyance on his face.

“I would be away from you and not treated this way.” Shiro pulled at his restraints.

“Of course; you deserve better treatment.” Keith slipped into the shadows and emerged behind the Prince.

The Prince felt rough hands on his neck. They slowly slipped down before they came into Shiro’s view. The Dark Paladin grinned.

“You cretin!” The Prince loathed the way that the blood rushed to head at the threat of physical violence. It was something he was used to as a protector, but now in this setting where the only violence had been words, the reintroduction of it was comforting and exciting.

“You enjoy danger. You like being dangerous.” Keith looked at Shiro’s dress—or, more importantly, the short skirt of the dress. “Why, you are even dressed appropriately for the occasion.”

Shiro gasped as his mind raced through the possibilities, ignoring the one he was slowly realizing would be the outcome. Keith maneuvered his lithe body and pulled the overskirt up Shiro’s legs before kneeling on the fabric, his head level with Shiro’s crotch.

“What are you doing!?” Shiro shouted in near hysterics.

“Having a feast,” the Dark Paladin deadpanned.

“You… You… No! Don’t!”

Keith looked up at him, his face like stone as he spoke with a tone of seriousness and stoicism, “Do you accept to be my consort?”

Shiro felt his chest beat, his clothes feeling tighter as the flush rose through his veins. He wouldn’t accept! He wouldn’t be eternally bound to the Dark Paladin, who haunted the dark corners of Shiro’s kingdom and brought swift death to those who dared to stand against him.

“I will not! You may torture me until I am old and weak, but I will never surrender!” Shiro gritted his teeth.

“Fine,” Keith said curtly before slipping his head under Shiro’s skirt, pressing his lips against the soft fabric that contained his cock.

It wasn’t the initial touch that made Shiro squirm at the finality of Keith’s lustful intentions. The Dark Paladin was brushed his lips on the surface, mouthing—teasing—the sensitive part, it did nothing, even as he mimicked taking the tip into his mouth.

Shiro squirmed when after minutes of Keith toying him he pulled away.

“Your Highness, I do believe you are now,” Keith's eyes flitted to Shiro’s growing bulge, “enjoying yourself.”

Before Shiro could prepare a verbal attack and unleash it at point black range, the Dark Paladin had slipped the semi-hard cock out of the panties and took the tip into his mouth. The Prince pulled against all of his bindings as he gasped at feeling the soft, warm tongue against its underside.

The Dark Paladin started to work on him, slowly taking him in and out with long drags of his tongue. Shiro bit his lip and started to feel the sweat build itself on his flushed skin. He had severely underestimated his enemy.

The Prince couldn’t move to thrust his hips or relieve the irritation of the wet silk on his groin, the slowly building agony unbearable. The Prince needed to thrust as Keith took his hard cock in whole.  The soft throat around him, the tongue flicking and licking his shaft as the suction tried to keep it in its warm embrace as Keith pulls out.

Keith’s lips were starting to get shiny with precum, Shiro’s precum. The Prince panted and whined, knowing how much more disheveled he must look.

His legs shook as Keith took a hand to Shiro’s balls. The Prince slumped forward as much as he could in the restraints. He had no control over his rapidly approaching orgasm. While Keith gleefully sucked on him with a hand massaging his sack.

The Prince screamed as the pleasure became too great to contain. Stands of cum shot out and down into the Dark Paladin’s hungry mouth. Keith didn’t pause in licking up the rewards of his actions, and as Shiro saw Keith’s throat bob, he felt like a cow getting milked.

Tiny licks cleaned Shiro, but Shiro turned his head to the side, red with shame on his cheeks for what had transpired. This was indeed torture, but he had survived with his life. His dignity and pride would take a while to recover.

It wasn’t until he heard Keith stood up that he turned his head back to the Dark Paladin.

“Thank you for the dessert.” Keith grinned as he forced a petit four cake into Shiro’s mouth.

Before Shiro had the chance to shout back, the lip-licking man walked into the shadows and vanished. The Prince was left alone and unbound.

* * *

 

Shiro spent the next day’s breakfast and lunch alone in his room. He lay in bed not out of pity for himself, but because there were no clothes to dress into. The added benefit of being warm in a drafty old castle also contributed to the reason of the naked Prince cocooning himself in bedclothes.

While there were no books to read and he had mentally cartographed the room down to every chisel knick in the stone, he refused to steep in the ennui and restlessness of his mind. He kept his eyes shut, thinking about the starry sky from the highest tower of the palace. How the moon glowed in the darkness, casting a silver spell over everything its light touched.

His family had planted a garden that bloomed at night at his urging after learning that some flowers could only bloom under that peaceful darkness. Later, as a misunderstood youth (as all youths were, royalty or not), the Prince had felt a kinship with those same blossoms. He was a bud that couldn’t open its petals in what was claimed ‘normal circumstances’. It was in those ‘rare circumstances’ that Shiro thrived.

Other princes had white steeds born and trained to be a prince’s companion. Prince Takashi Shirogane had bonded to a weary black unicorn who, through kindness and trust, became his friend.

It was possible that whatever fate wrote for him, it was for Shiro to stand out from others. He had ridden far distances and battled more than just his current captor. The Prince was trusted by those who asked of him to accomplish the possible and the impossible.

The Prince was at peace in the artificial darkness.

It did not last long.

Having his body literally lifted was an experience Shiro had only had twice: once when facing a giant gladiator and the other when the moon priestess decided to expedite Shiro’s ascension up a large spire by growing tall and picking him up by the scruff like a kitten. This time, however, Keith’s shadows had his limbs in their grip and his torso supported as they pulled him to the vanity.

He had a good amount of stubble on his face, though he would never grow a satisfactory beard worthy of nobility. The shadows pulled his head up and covered his neck and lower head with a thick, rich foam that smelled like the royal kitchen during the baking of sweets. Vanilla dominated, but there were fruits and even a few floral notes that reminded him of the orange blossom marmalade and chocolate cake he had had for his previous birthday. It was a contrast to the woodsy herbal scents of the balm he used when he had time to shave himself. The queasiness in Shiro’s stomach came from the admission that he preferred the rich vanilla smell over his own.

The shadows scraped the hairs clean with their blades and, while Shiro knew he should not have trusted Keith’s servants, they had so far shown that the Dark Paladin wasn’t in the business to physically hurt or maim him. Besides, if he moved as they pressed their sharp blades to his throat… well, that would end up badly for him.

The dress they forced the Prince into was a gown the color of lavender that shifted to a blue-violet as it moved. Shiro sat in his spot and while unclothed, he still tried to fight, but as he leaped forward with his fist, the shadow caught it with unnatural speed and more shadows formed underneath him to make him cooperate.

White lace stockings with embroidered iridescent lavender hearts that clustered around his thighs. Simple white underwear that went with a jacquard white and iridescent lavender corset with more hearts in the design.

It had a juvenile look to it, and the Prince knew it was so he could feel humiliated at the Dark Paladin seeing him as a ‘sweetheart’. Even worse, he was manhandled into them. His legs spread as the shadow pulled the silk over his pelvis, and he dangled in the air with arms high as the corset was placed on him.

He felt better when the full skirt was tied around his waist and even better with the bodice went on as well. It was simple, with tiny gems around the strapless neckline and a line of embroidering at the basque waist. It was understated ornamentally, but then Shiro felt a choker tied around his neck and his wrists restrained.

The dress was only a background for the jewels. A lacey teardrop pearl lay between his clavicle from the choker, and strands of pearls wrapped around his left wrist. A series of pearls that sequentially grew larger fell from his ears until they ended with the same jewel but in the shape of teardrops.

The hands stopped before they placed a wreath of white gold on his head. They pulled his face into shapes to paint his lips a bright flushed pink and dusted the same color on his cheeks. His eyes were lined as usual, but a pearl-like powder was also swept onto his lids. His tuft was pulled back and to the side, and finally, the wreath was set on his head.

Shiro shifted, as much as he could, uncomfortable as they fitted him with white high heels. It was unsettling to see himself look vestal and youthful in spite of the dress. Even if he had been nostalgically daydreaming before, the pure white underneath was perhaps a currently indecipherable message the Dark Paladin was sending him.

The servants forced him to stand, and the Prince shivered as he felt a shadow brush down his back so that the large tail of the ribbon that tied the choke drape down his back.

They had finished dressing him up once again. The program Shiro assumed told him he was ready to be taken to see the Dark Paladin. A chain of black shadows formed on his wrist, an obvious sign that Shiro would have to follow close.

However, instead of opening the doors and walking, a pool of black formed before Shiro and the shadow servant sank into it, pulling the tether down. It wasn’t the fear of stepping into… what may or may not be nothing that got to Shiro, but as the servant slipped in,  Shiro thought it had a mask on with how he thought there was a faint glow in a design that mimicked a face on it.

He had no time for the implications of the horror as a quick tug pulled Shiro in.

It was black as a starless, moonless sky for the briefest of moments until he stumbled, unchained, to his delight, into a hall. The Prince waited to see if they were coming back, as it would be foolish of him to walk off if this was a trap.

Yet they did not come for him, and Shiro rubbed some warmth into his bare arms as he started to step down the hallway. This only led -sadly- to another hallway, but he recognized it as the other side of the castle. Where before the overgrown courtyard had been on the right, this time it was on his left.

More and more pieces of this labyrinth formed in his mind. Soon enough he would find the way to solve the puzzle and escape. He had to be strong and endure the hardships that he so far had encountered and the new ones he would face shortly.

The Prince was idealistic, but he wasn’t naive to think that Keith would let him wander the dark stone castle with no rules.

This was a game. This was all a game.

Many of the doors were unlocked, but there were no surprises to be had. Old furniture with dust cloths was piled in them. Most were broken, and all had seen better days.

As the goosebumps started to show on his arm, Shiro knew he should seek a fireplace and find himself a source of heat. He grinned at the thought of tossing his clothes into the fire. Surely they would burn brighter and hotter than any scrap wood he found.

The search was becoming fruitless as behind each door were old apartments for nobles filled with stacked broken furniture. He would have been fine with seeing a hole in the floor, but the castle was indeed made of stone. 

A hole would have been welcome at least as he would be able to jump into it. Anything was preferable than the sight of the discards of privileged and frivolous ancestors who once resided here. Possibly his own before the construction of the palace he was born in.

He would not give the Dark Paladin the satisfaction of giving up, so he went deeper into the castle. A doorknob felt suspiciously warm as he touched it, and as he slowly opened the door, he felt the warmth of a roaring fire. The smell was sweet as the logs crackled.

When the feelings in his fingers returned, Shiro looked around and studied the room. Despite the conspicuous fire, there was no sight of the twisted dark armor that threatened the Prince’s waking moments. Blades hung on the walls, rusted and need of repair, but still weapons. Skulls of beasts lined the walls, objects that once were vessels of power, and pieces of unique armor sat in dusty displays.

The Prince sighed with the revelation of the obvious: he had been led to a  trophy room.

He heard the familiar footsteps.

“I expected you to wander around more. See if there were any hidden passages.” Keith was wearing a breastplate, but otherwise unarmored, in dark black breeches and a crimson vest over a grey shirt.

“I am  full of surprises.” Shiro grabbed the nearest blade, a shortsword, and stepped forward to thrust.

Keith laughed as he dodged to his right.

Shiro swung as hard as he could in his heels, his dress swooshing as the sword glided through the air towards the Dark Paladin, who dodged with little effort. To the Prince’s consternation, between the limitations of the dress and the supernatural agility Keith displayed, his attacks weren’t landing despite his efforts.

Fatigue was seeping into his muscles, and as he sloppily swung, Keith kicked the flat of the blade, sending it spinning out of his grip. It landed with a loud cling. He had lost the ability to counter Keith.

Terror filled Shiro’s heart as he stood there, naked to attack. 

The shadow hands held Shiro down on the floor and Keith straddled him, erection pressing up against Shiro’s. Shiro whimpered as Keith summoned his dagger from the void. With a flick of Keith’s wrist, the sword turned into a small dagger and slipped under the layers of fabric of Shiro’s dress.

Before Shiro could whisper a prayer, the knife moved, slicing the bodice and tearing the fragile, fine silk in half. Shiro heard himself gasp as he shivered in the hand’s grasp. His nipples perked up as they were exposed to the drafty castle air. He cast out the feeling he had between his legs; he was only responding to the illicit interest Keith had in him, nothing more. It was all his body’s doing.

Keith grinned, and he snapped his fingers as he got up. The hands repositioned Shiro to be suspended but cradled. Keith walked around the Prince, with the eyes of a predator knowing that it had caught a feast. The knife’s edge touched the small of Shiro’s back, making Shiro painfully aware of the ache that pressed against the white silk of his panties. He was going to die in the best of circumstances; in the worst, he would carry the scars of being claimed by the Dark Paladin, marked as a thrall of the vile knight himself.

Snap.

Shiro gasped as Keith slowly cut the laces from the corset. His waist and abdomen felt loose as each slice peeled away the bone and fabric from his flesh. The corset fell to the floor with no dramatic flair.

“How wanton.” Keith’s tone dripped with dark desire, pressing a palm against Shiro’s erection.

The Prince bit his tongue as he blushed and glanced away, feeling Keith pressing himself onto Shiro’s leg as he was toyed with.

“Please.”

“This will end if you accept my proposal.” Keith slipped the blade underneath the waist of Shiro’s dress and the skirt fell into a pile below the Prince.

The cold was tolerable despite only wearing the panties and stockings. What was intolerable was when the knight pressed his mouth to Shiro’s clothed erection and sucked.

Shiro cried, futilely struggling against his bonds as he felt himself getting worked up.

He could feel the fiery heat of Keith on him and it was making him wetter with each illicit kiss. Muscles shifted as the tongue pressed against the sides, making him squirm.

Shiro wanted two conflicting things: to have Keith stop, and to ask Keith to remove his soiled undergarments and have Keith suck on him properly. The Dark Paladin was beautiful, lithe, and had angles and curves that were pleasing to the eye, and seeing that mouth using his dick and milking him dry invaded his thoughts.

A prince should be unspoiled, for he must protect his kingdom with a kind heart and love for all.

“K-Keith. Please,” Shiro whispered and closed his eyes, avoiding the way the knight hungrily licked and sucked up all of the precum seeping through.

Every muscle in his body tightened and relaxed as the waves pulsed through him, inching him closer. His cock was practically tenting between his legs and letting Keith take the tip in even with the thin cloth stretched tight. The Prince’s head practically swam as he felt the blunt of Keith’s tongue tease his slit.

It was slow torture, and he knew he was lost when his pelvis jolted forward and his cock twitched. His body slacked in the shadows' bindings and his mind seeped and tingled. He was letting himself be used… and, strangely, he felt good.

His mouth peeked open, letting out moans between gasps from the strain of the crawl to orgasm.

The Dark Paladin was enjoying it as well, humming against Shiro and massaging his own freed cock.

If he accepted, would this be routine?

Shiro choked back a cry and started to spurt cum; Keith drank it all up with his eager licks. Shiro felt the hot seed spread out and dampen the panties he wore. He was utterly in ruins.

Then came the crowning moment that alerted Shiro to the severity of his situation.

The Dark Paladin groaned as he orgasmed onto the Prince, painted Shiro’s chest as his own. The Prince quaked with a mixture of fear and other dark emotions as Keith stepped back to admire his work. With a fastening of his pants and a licking of his lips, he nodded.

“Give him a bath. Clean him up and place him in his room for the night. Let him think about the events so far,” Keith commanded his shadow hands.

Shiro was too far gone from the aftereffects to notice the knight's magic creating a black curtain around him; his body was unbound, yet he felt the shell around him and the distinct rocking of being moved. He lay motionless, drifting in an endless sky of black.

When Shiro eyes were uncovered, he found himself in a large, almost cavernous room, it had been carved or magicked out of the solid dark gray stone that surrounded him. Despite no light reaching the windowless room, it was illuminated by the bioluminescence of the plants and flowers that hung from the ceiling as drapes and crept towards the edge of the rounded rocks.

It looked as if it were an enchanted pool of a nymph or a water fairy, but the sparkling clear water with the steam rolling off of it and the smoothly carved steps told the Prince that it was an imitation to invoke one. The room was silent other than the echoes of the water’s movement, his own breath, and the shadows slipping his garments off.

It was warm and comfortable and even as he stood, expecting the accustomed cold of the castle, he felt the warmth seep into his core, relaxing his tired and sore muscles.

"This is...." Shiro bit his tongue, daring to not give a positive word to the shadows that were settling potions and lotions on a gilded tray near the edge of the bath. Even if the shadows could not talk, they certainly could hear and could possibly relay Shiro's wonderment to their cruel master. He would give no quarter to the Dark Paladin, for it would surely encourage his advances upon the Prince.

Shiro looked at the lavender flowers on a vine hanging over the pool and sighed. If he stalled, he would be ushered in like a cow. He held his head high as he walked down the stone steps into the water. It was a deep bath, chest-high, but he moved over the side where he saw carved seats built in.

Whoever built this castle had high standards, and despite the derelict state of most of the grounds, this room was well preserved. The water flowed up from the bottom like a natural spring, and just from the way it eased Shiro's muscles, he was happy that this was one place where it wasn't cold and chilly.

The shadows reached out to him and Shiro flinched when they touched. This time their grip was firm, but guided him to tilt his head down. Keith wanted them to bathe his kidnapped prince; Shiro forgot about that.

His nose filled with a floral scent and he sucked in a breath trying not to moan as the hands scrubbed his hair clean. Shiro's scalp tingled as they worked to get the sweat and dirt of the day out of his hair, and the massage made his toes curl in the water. They paid extra attention to the base of his neck, and Shiro turned to royal jelly in their hands.

With a sloppy smile on his face, he closed his eyes as they rinsed the bubbles and suds out of his hair. Then, to his surprise, they added some type of conditioning agent to it to make it soft and lustrous.

But they didn't stop there.

The shadows started to scrub his body as well with another liquid from a bottle with “moonbeam rose” inscribed on it. It even smelled like the rare white rose that only bloomed during a full moon. Shiro sucked in the scent as his muscles were massaged to get out all of the tense knots.

He had never in his life expected this to happen to him. Keith was cruel, using tricks to seduce Shiro into accepting his hand in unholy marriage. Tying Shiro up as play, using material goods to entice Shiro, and now this, making Shiro feel as if he was fresh and younger.

Shiro wondered, idly, what would happen if Keith became a good soul. What if Shiro could turn Keith to the light to become a true paladin?

Oh, who was Shiro kidding?

Shiro knew from his battles with the Dark Paladin that Keith was stubborn in his dastardliness. He was a man with foul magics and of fouler mind whose single-handed goal was to dominate Shiro whether he was willing or not.

As Shiro floated in the bath, cleaned and massaged to a fresh state, his heart rallied itself to endure once more. One day he would end the Dark Paladin's reign of terror in his land, but first, he needed to get out of this castle before he became complacent enough to accept the offer.

* * *

 

The next morning, the shadows dressed him after serving a small breakfast in bed consisting of toast, salmon, eggs, rose hip jam, and blackcurrant tea. He resisted when they pulled the laces of his corset tight; even though he could breathe, the stiffness made it impossible for him to slump. The dress itself was of tightly-woven black silk satin with a soft blue sheer silk chiffon. It was sleeveless, with a netted illusion neckline that blended into his skin, and the skirt was full of layers and layers of lightweight fabric giving the dress lift. Tiny little buds and blossoms of manipulated fabric applied on the illusion neckline trailed over his chest and faded out of the hip. They looked like forget-me-nots upon a second glance.

The pale cherry pink color painted his lips and his eyes were lined with a black. His hair was combed to the side so that the gunmetal tiara lay perfectly upon his crown. Little roses of pale amethysts intermixed with slivers of inlaid cloisonne of a color that matched the trailing forget-me-nots.

The shadows placed three thin gunmetal picks into his hair with little gems and fabric bloom petals that hung from them. The jewelry made it look as if Shiro were under a perpetual shower of blue blooms. The shadows straightened his fine mesh stockings and slipped black ankle strap heels onto his feet. Miniature fabric forget-me-nots were sewn onto the shoe’s background of glittering black.

They took no time to let Shiro gather the mental fortitude to prepare himself for what this day could consist of as they ushered him out. While there was no magicked chain on his wrists, he knew this was not the time to test his luck on escape.

This was a new area for Shiro as they headed down different corridors than before. Stone floor changed to a dark, rich marble, still cold, but much easier to walk on with heels despite the possibility of slipping. These halls were decorated with dismembered marble statues of angels. The milky white wings laid by their owners while a startling number were lacking a head.

One beautiful sculpture of winged twins was made more identical in how both were lacking a right arm. Their wings stretched out in full glory, yet they were still entangled by their limitations without two arms.

Whether the statues had been intentionally desecrated in this way, the Prince didn’t know. There was a sadness in seeing the shattered pieces displayed with where they originated from, but it could be as a remembrance of some event. There were castles like this, where their custodians left damaged works in their place after invasions. This was curated.

Finally, it connected to where he was being taken to as there were large stained glass windows depicted the legends of his kingdom: five lions united to bless the land. The oaths that King Sven the First, took to honor the five lions in gratitude. Prince Takashi Shirogane took those very same ancestral oaths as future ruler.

Keith stood in the chapel, the colors from the stained glass of the lion who presided over the element of fire made the gold threads woven in his shirt look like threads of fire.

Shiro spoke first. “I am not marrying you. I will not be your consort.”

Keith smiled. “Not today, but soon.”

The Dark Paladin was so stubborn! 

Shiro frowned when he spotted a veil on the altar. It matched his outfit perfectly with strands of black, gunmetal, and blue knotted and woven into miniature forget-me-nots around the hem. 

The implications made his veins boil with anger.

Keith grabbed his hands, guided him to move.

“What are you doing?” Shiro asked sternly.

“You’re a romantic at heart. You want to be charmed.” Keith led Shiro into a twirl.

The Dark Paladin positioned his hands and swept them into a waltz. Each time the Prince tried to take over to lead, Keith reasserted his dominance.

“Romance isn’t a game, Your Highness. I can hear your heart calling out for someone to enchant you. Show you who you really are. What you are really meant to be.”

“Who I was meant to be?” Somewhere, the Prince had stopped trying to lead and let the Dark Paladin control his movements.

The chapel was devoid of pews, lost to the ages. Shiro’s dress floated above the floor with each step, and whatever light shone through the glass made the room sparkle with bright colors. 

“Everyone should be looking at you with adoration. Clamoring for your attention. You are beautiful. The brightest star in the sky. A dream made real. No one can be you,” Keith whispered into Shiro’s ear, making the Prince’s shut his eyes while his spine shiver.

“Why?” He felt eyes on him as if he were more than human. They were all pleading for him to look at them even, if he only had eyes for one person….

“You’re beautiful as a blushing bride.” The words dripped with ominous poison into his ears.

The spell broke. Shiro pulled away from the Dark Paladin, gripping his body in a protective stance. Keith looked on in amusement.

“You… you… you  fiend!”

“Am I?” Keith acted as if he were pondering. “No, I am not.”

 " Free me! My friends will surely come to my rescue if you dare not to!” The Prince balled his fists.

“Friends? Like your unicorn?” Keith tilted his head.

Shiro’s eyes went wide, and leapt forward into a charge at the man, “What did you do to her!? She is a being of pure, untamed magic!”

Black had been possibly his first friend. She was dear to him, and if harm came to her, the Prince would never forgive himself.

“I’ll show you.” the Dark Paladin grabbed the Prince’s arm mid-charge and yanked him into a gathering of shadows.

Shiro hit a railing, and if it weren’t for Keith’s arm, he would have fallen on his bottom.

He looked over the railing to a walled-in field with dry grasses. Next to a red horse was a unicorn of pure black. Shiro’s heart dropped. No one would be coming for him, as Black had been in the hands of the Dark Paladin all along. No one would know that he had been kidnapped and commanded to be the consort of the most villainous man that’s plaguing the world.

“I’m sure your subjects think you are saving the kingdom yet again.”

With those words, Shiro bowed his head. The heavy clouds started to rain his unshed tears for him.

* * *

The rain would continue for days.

Shiro kept himself quiet, his rage converting to despair. The Dark Paladin became more of a fixture now in his daily goings-on. At lunch, the shadows came in with their master, and Shiro was led to a sitting room where Keith read out loud to him fictional tales of heroes and princesses from aged books.

He was still very much touched and played with. The cold of the castle had penetrated his body, and the warmth of the only living being in the castle was the sole sustaining fuel that kept him grounded.

“You’re almost there.” Keith smiled at him as Shiro didn’t jerk his head back when the Dark Paladin combed his hair tuft.

He had a map in his head. A way to get out forming behind his placid veil. When they walked along the destroyed portions of the wall, he looked outside, longing for the flowers in the palace garden and the laughter of his squires. The brightness of the day and the incidental events that happened that made him laugh.

For now, he lay naked on a marble floor in a dining room, a punishment for daring to ask his captor if his drink was poisoned as it was handed to him. A crack in his apathetic facade at dinner, and now he was pressed down with the man on top him. It had been a foolish error, and even as he had snapped that he would never accept being the Dark Paladin’s consort, he had been stripped of anything but the violet beaded collar around his neck, silver chain earrings, and the amethyst and silver jeweled headdress pinned securely to his hair.

His clothes lay only a small distance away, but it felt immeasurable under the Dark Paladin’s watch. Wine poured onto the small of his back. Shiro closed his eyes as Keith licked the wine off him.

“You’re so moody lately.” Keith placed some cold cream-like substance on his back from a crystal goblet.

Shiro closed his eyes and shut out the sensation. Just let Keith do whatever to him; soon he would escape. Then he would come with an army to bring the Dark Paladin to justice.

“Ahhh!” Shiro froze as he felt warmth drip over his back, pooling in the divots formed by his muscles and bone.

“So chocolate makes you talk.” Keith laughed as Shiro arced his rear up to keep the chocolate from spreading between his legs.

Tongue biting did nothing to forestall the sensation of Keith’s lips sucking and licking his back and down towards his rear. The Prince damned the back of his head that alerted the rest of him to the tingling pleasant sensation that happened when the Dark Paladin took a long swipe with his tongue at the base of his spine.

“You are a feast for the eyes, Your Highness.” Keith pulled Shiro up.

With the true blush of arousal on his cheeks, Shiro looked away. “I am not a plate or a goblet.”

Keith shrugged and pressed his lips to Shiro’s nape. As Shiro exhaled he felt those same lips on his own. The remnants of the melted bitter chocolate entered his mouth and flooded his taste buds. He hadn’t had such a sweet in a long time. It was his favorite treat, and the taste on the tongue of his enemy overruled his common sense to act disgusted.

The Dark Paladin slipped off his shirt, and Shiro wondered if this was the end of him as he knew it. Instead, the man took the ladle of chocolate and poured it over his shoulder, leaving trails of the confection hardening over his collar and chest.

“Come now; you deserve a treat,” Keith invited, eyes dark and hypnotizing, curling his fingers to gesture the Prince to join him.

The Prince pressed the Dark Paladin down to the floor and started to taste the chocolate on his lips once more. He felt the warmth of the body below him and how it shivered when he dragged his teeth against the jaw. He had not eaten since breakfast, and the hunger was too great to withhold.

He was eating off his enemy’s body. It was an offer and he took gladly. It was immoral to use someone like this, but Keith had offered. What had the Dark Paladin been feeling if he had given the order? Was there some gratification he got as Shiro shuddered, as Keith licked Shiro’s lips, as their bodies pressed together?

Later, he realized that Keith had been the poison and he had gladly drunk the sweetness down. 

* * *

His eyes locked onto himself as the shadows groomed and dressed him. His dress was an ombré blue with a skirt that mimicked the tails of mer-folk. White water lily flowers embellished his torso and hips. His lips were painted black, his eyes metallic silver. Platform heels rested next to him as the shadows pinned his white tuft with a hair comb of cascading lady lily petals that brushed against his cheeks.

He stood tall as the shoes were placed on his feet and a robe-like jacket of pale blue was slipped on to his arms. Little crystals had been sewn on the jacket to mimic the water that fell from the sky. The hem of the jacket swung as the servant beckoned him to follow.

Each step made him swayed and the servant ‘understood’ that unlike other times, the Prince was allowed to set the pace of the march. They moved through the channels he knew well, but then they took a few turns and Shiro was before the threshold to the garden. A large arch marked the transition, and just a few steps in front of him was the rain that hadn't let up.

An umbrella formed in the shadow’s hand and Shiro paused before stepping forward, the height of his shoes preventing the skirt’s hem from touching the damp, muddy ground. As he stepped into the light, the body of the shadow dissipated, with the exception of the dark hand under the umbrella. The Prince must have looked strange with a hand floating next to him.

The garden from above made it look as if it was a feral mass of wilderness, but as he walked along the garden statues and crumbling pillars, there was an order to the chaos. It was grey and dreary and moss found itself between the flat stone pavers and the hanging moss from the pergola overhead, but there were buds on the bushes. Not dead ones, but ones waiting for the right time. It was somber, and as they maneuvered around a tree root that upended the path, the Prince realized there was charm and beauty in the wild style it was returning to.

The gazebo had seen better days, but it was intact and solid. Under the shelter was the Dark Paladin pouring a cup of tea from a finely crafted teapot. A polished silver tray full of tiny cakes, fruit, puddings, and crustless sandwiches cut into small triangles sat on the table in front of him.

The Prince raised his eyebrow. The Dark Paladin’s suit was the color of red roses, but the genuine smile on his face as he saw Shiro was unnerving. A goblet of white wine with blackberries was in Keith’s hands, half drunk.

Keith walked over to him, offering his hand, which Shiro reluctantly took. The shoes he wore weren’t the most stable, despite keeping the hem clean and dry. It was a faux gentlemanly act he could overlook as he stepped onto the elevated platform. He also ignored the man as he was helped to be seated.

The Dark Paladin sat down and immediately went to fill up the teacup before Shiro. The aroma of the tea was already intoxicating. Specks of spices and blue and pink petals settled along the bottom of the cup. Shiro looked up as Keith took his already poured cup, making his skepticism clear with his narrowed eyes.

Keith smiled. “Your Highness, I learn from my mistakes. I could never poison my future consort. There is a form of trust that needs to be strengthened.”

As if to show the Prince there were no lies in his statement, he took a sip from his own and then a sip of Shiro’s.

A look at his own cup revealed nothing different. Trust. Sure, the Dark Paladin has been… violent in holding Shiro down and making his body crave the warmth and affection of love, but never had Shiro seen the red hue of blood or the darkness of marks of his body. He was scared from many battles, but none were from the Dark Paladin.

He took a sip. The heat warming up his body was a balm on his soul. He felt himself relax as Keith started to sip his own and grabbed one of the small sandwiches onto a plate.

There was silence as Keith handed him the plate, and Shiro took it without worry. The sandwich was light but filling. The strangeness calmed as they started to eat in silence. The Prince’s eyes weren’t on his captor’s next move, but wandered around the garden.

The more his eyes drifted around, the less gloomy it looked. There were soft white tiny flowers in the long sweeping grassings, bending over with the weight of the water. There was a fountain long out of use and cracked, but the upper basins were filled to the brim, and a pair of swallows sitting next together under a canopy of apple trees full of blossoms and budding fruits.

“There’s beauty even among the ruins,” Keith whispered under his breath as he watched the wisteria purple petals fall onto the ground with the raindrops.

“Is that an attempt to flirt with me?” Shiro chuckled.

“Not exactly,” Keith took a sip of tea and smiled, “War. Destruction. It’s an end. Everyone focuses on the end, but never thinks about the after. The revival. The flowers grow on battlefields, bring life where there was once death.”

 “That’s eloquently put.”

“I won’t poison you, Your Highness. I want you to willingly consent to be my consort. You will stand side by side with me in battle. Everyone will realize that under your mask, you are dazzling.” Keith’s eyes were upon him, and Shiro felt uncomfortable and confused under the gaze.

“You flatter me, but I will not be yours. And I certainly do not wear a mask.” Shiro balked. Was it a compliment? A threat? A mixture of both. It was the look in his eyes that unnerved the Prince. Maybe he was going to be groped soon? Made to feel his bodily wants turn to need?

Maybe he could stall the unstoppable.

“Even at the palace, I never felt pressured to be something other than the Prince. It’s my duty to help. I was born into privilege and everywhere I saw was… others struggling.” Shiro nodded as Keith handed him a plate of cake and fruit.

The Dark Paladin watched him as he ate the chocolate pudding dusted with powdered sugar on his own plate.

“Even when I was deathly ill, I had the best doctors. But what of those who lived upon the fringes? Who would treat their sickness?” The Prince bit into the cake, tasting the tart citron custard and lightly sweetened vanilla whipped cream.

Shiro paused to take another bit of the cake before continuing, “I knew that my people paid taxes to support my family, but they also trusted us to use that money to support them. I had to keep that trust they had in us.”

 Keith was watching him with head tilted slightly, but was still quiet as the wings of the great northern silent gryphon that stalked the mountains with soft white wings. His eyes were warm.

“I was thirteen when I finally ran off one day. My family and friends trained me well, but I heard that there had been a sighting of an injured unicorn. I was alone. At that time I wasn’t able to employ squires; besides, they would have been too young.” The Prince laughed: one of his squires would have been a toddler at the time.

He looked up, the rain still falling from the cloud heavy sky, “I found Black, my dearest friend there. Injured, utterly distrustful of everyone. But she was stuck in the swamp with a serious cut on her leg. I tried everything to get her out. Even pushing her. Eventually, I told her to trust me and pushed again.”

The filth had stuck onto him, but he knew that unicorn would have died there, wallowing in misery, if he couldn’t get her out. Even when she had thrashed her head and pointed her pure black horn with a threatening snort at him, he wouldn’t give up on saving her.

“I got her out, and worked on cleaning her up. But we were stuck because she couldn’t move for long and I couldn’t leave her. We were lucky that a boy came along—”

Soft lips interrupted his story, tasting faintly of chocolate and alcohol. It was over too soon, a chaste kiss if there ever was one, as Shiro sat there, stunned, as Keith sat back down, looking sheepish and young.

His palm hit the Dark Paladin’s cheek soon after.

Everything was silent except for the crackling of the building storm.

The air turned freezing as the Dark Paladin blinked, then downed the rest of the wine. The Prince stayed rooted to his spot, terrified. He couldn’t stop Keith’s anger.

Shadows swallowed up Shiro before he could speak. When he could finally see again, he was laying on the stone floor in the castle, Keith looming over and undressing him as shadows clamped Shiro down.

While there was no mark on the man’s face, Shiro still weakly said, “I’m sorry!”

“You still need to be punished, Your Highness.” Keith had a deft hand as he slipped off Shiro’s undergarments.

“Please.”

“You know the rules.” Keith nodded to the shadows as a coil of rope conjured up next to him.

Shiro swallowed; he would not bend. Even as the shadows posed him for Keith, letting him wrap the rope around Shiro and tie knots around his sensitive areas, he would not become the Dark Paladin’s consort!

Keith gave the rope to shadowy hands that flew up to the ceiling where a hook hung. “Last chance.”

“No!” Shiro shouted as his arms were bound to his sides and legs tied bent.

Keith grinned as he signaled the shadow to pull the Prince up. Shiro pressed his mouth tightly shut. The ropes squeezed him considerably as they became taunt from gravity’s reign. The rubbed at his skin, but most embarrassingly, also rubbed between his thighs.

A slight breeze cause a knot to rub against Shiro’s hole, and he instinctively felt the need to buck, though whether to stop the rubbing or make it more intense, he didn’t know.  The Dark Paladin eyed him with interest.

“This is your consequence. But that’s okay; I know you want to let go,” Keith whispered into his ear.

Shiro felt both helpless and weightless, the ropes supporting him and restraining him fully. If it weren’t for the brief shots of pleasure from the rope rubbing him against his sensitive skin, the Prince would have thought that his bindings were incorporeal.

A moan slipped through his lips and his body jerked as a draft pulled the knot between his cheeks.

“Relax, your highness. You don’t have to do a thing.” Keith grinned as he directed a shadow hand with grace gestures of his own.

The hand started at Shiro’s stomach and lightly brushed against the surface of the Prince’s skin. Shiro felt his stomach firm up even as the hand moved up to his neck and covered his eyes. He felt a presence behind him—dark and dangerous but warm—but when Shiro tried to lean back into it, it recoiled.

Keith laughed like a child, and Shiro remembered to relax.

When he did, he felt the warmth, touching his muscles, sliding down until it slipped between his thighs. His cheeks felt hot and he wanted to spread himself further to let the hands touch him more. The ropes had no give anymore, and he was at their mercy.

The hand over his eyes moved as he felt hot skin between the folds of his ass. As the Prince opened his mouth in protest, fingers slipped into his mouth.

“You look good like this, your perfect cock in the air,” Keith crooned.

Shiro blushed; Keith was pressing his own erection against him. The unfastened wool pants were no match for the heat of the Dark Paladin’s arousal, and simply feeling it made Shiro’s own twitch in delight.

He felt it brush in between, and he squirmed as the shiver went through his body. Keith then grabbed his ass and started to thrust on him.

The more Keith toyed, the more Shiro grew annoyed. The cold air worked against his erection as the pressure welled up. He wanted the knot covering his entrance gone. He wanted the Dark Paladin to take his virtue fully, damn the Prince to the bowels of the darkest love with him.

He wanted to shout that he accepted to be properly bed, but the fingers he sucked on made it impossible for him to voice it. Even if he could, the words could never come out. He was moaning and screaming… whimpering for the Dark Paladin. He felt stickiness on his skin, and his precum that dripped down and his backside was being lightly coated with Keith’s own.

Eventually it the burden was too much for the Prince to bear his mouth gaped open, lips wet with saliva, as he came. His body, wound too tight, unleashed it in spurts. The hand dropped from his mouth, disappearing into the ether. The warmth of the Dark Paladin was gone.

The Prince dangled there as his head cleared.

He needed to escape.

* * *

 

His grey eyes turned towards the window. The rain kept pouring.

The Dark Paladin kept his distance since that night other than a few touches. He was shaven clean this morning to match the state he had been in when he woke up for the first time in silks. The shadows took extra care to rub his muscles with medicinal ointments. Perhaps the Dark Paladin was apologizing to him for being too rough.

It was a strange though, as the Dark Paladin seemed to be a soul—if he even had one—that had no regard for others. Yet, here Shiro was, walking in a sapphire gown dripping with blue crystal roses and white lace and not in a grave. 

The fireplaces were roaring, but still, he felt the cold grasp of confinement.

He would be free.

He took off his heels.

The ledge was slippery as he put his legs through the broken window and slipped onto it. He had no care as the glass tore at the skirt. He sidled quickly and quietly along the side, pressing his body against the stone walls.

The Prince bit his cheek as the wind and rain stung his face, as he moved towards the remnants of a stone staircase. He tapped his foot to see if it would hold, and to his shock, it did. He started to climb, paying no heed to the rough stone that tugged at the threads of his stockings, tearing them apart.

Lightning flashed before his eyes, and Shiro clung to the stone as a piece of a stone step behind him broke off and shattered on the hard earth below. The Prince couldn’t go back and subject himself to whatever punishment the Dark Paladin had in mind. He must return, he must free Black from her prison and then put an end to Keith’s lunacy once and for all!

He kept going, even as he stretched his trembling legs over a large gap, his hands clawing at the stone so he would not end up like the rubble below: shattered and defeated upon the ground as the wind and rain eroded until nothing but dust remained.

His body grew heavy from the exertion and grime packing onto the rags that were once a dress, yet he persisted as he pulled himself over a ledge and onto stable ground with an undignified flop. Shiro’s body took in deep breaths as the rain soaked him even more as he laid on the floor.

Being constantly treated as delicate and made of glass had caused his body to become softer than he would have assumed. Even unencumbered by his outfit, the Prince was even more out of his peak physical shape than he wanted to be. He pressed himself up with arms; he would not be found here.

He would escape.

Slowly, he drew his legs in and firmly planted his feet. The prince stood up, muscles aching.

With each step, the Prince felt the wear he had put himself through. It was a walk to the side where he could climb down, as ivy had overcome the rock of the castle. As he neared the railing, his heart beat fast with joy. Fortune smiled upon him as the ivy was old, with thick, strong vines matting the wall.

Shiro carefully pulled himself over and grabbed hold. Hand. Foot. Hand. Foot. Down the wall.

**_ “ No! ” _ **

A branch snapped out from under his foot, and the Prince lost his grip. If it weren’t for the quickness of his right arm grasping tightly as he scrambled to secure himself, he would have fallen the final two stories to the ground.

“Focus. Patience…” The Prince closed his eyes as the strong gusts pelted rain against his now bare back.

He made the few steps down and jumped into a muddy puddle below. He could see the gates to the drawbridge, and a smile formed on his face. Soon, soon he’ll be free. He could grab Black and be free.

Shiro shambled forward in the muck, arms around himself to keep warm as the storm worsened. A few more. He was almost there.

He was going to…

His face collapsed, and the rain masked his tears.

He was so close.

“I admire your fortitude.” The Dark Paladin stood there at the gate, a platoon of fully-formed shadow servants at his call, waiting for Shiro.

Futile; his escape had been futile. A failure since its genesis. Keith had known Shiro would escape and now… he walked willingly to him. The Prince crumpled to the ground in defeat, his soul now as soiled as his body and clothes.

The Dark Paladin stopped before him, and Shiro looked up. Full twisted armor cut an imposing sight as the cape whipped in the wind. The Prince shut his eyes and dropped his shoulders as wicked armored hands reached for him.

The Prince was lifted up and cradled against the inferno that was the Dark Paladin. The red torn cape was placed around his chilled body; drops of rain bounced off of it as Shiro quivered. He felt safe, even as Keith opened a shadow portal and stepped into it with Shiro in his arms.

Shiro stood, eyes lidded, as Keith carefully removed the tattered garments. His mouth was gagged with shadow and bands with strings gently pulled at his limbs. The mud still caked on his skin and even with the restraints, he didn’t want to move or speak. He was tired. Tired of running. Tired of hoping.

The Dark Paladin didn’t speak at all and picked up Shiro like a proper bride. Shiro knew he should fight, pretend to be scandalized by being forced to be immodest as Keith walked in full armor down a pair of steps.

It wasn’t until the hot water cleansed his skin that Shiro realized he had been taken to the bath. The Prince’s eyes darted around as he the recognition came back to him of how comforting this room was and how even the water was terrified of Keith’s serenity, as his armor and body repelled it. The floating candles and petals that glided across the surface parted for them as if they were expecting the two.

The steam rolled off the water and Shiro went limp with the heat’s relief. Keith placed him on a ledge, the restraints assisting Shiro in sitting up. A washcloth soaked in violet scent soap brushed his face, wiping away any residue. Shiro flinched as Keith placed his ungloved hands on his cheek, pausing before dabbing away at the Prince’s skin.

The sound of water and warmth was the only thing he paid attention to. His legs were lifted so that his feet could be checked and scrubbed. The balls of his feet were massaged by the Dark Paladin’s limber fingers. His nails and hands were massaged with softening oils and his back was bare so that the strong hands of his captor could massage his achy muscles.

His hair was dampened and fingers lathered up Shiro’s hair. Shiro quietly enjoyed the sensation as his head tingled. The sensation stayed with the Prince as water rinsed the remains away and the Dark Paladin rubbed a sweet woody scent into his hair to soften it.

As the water poured away the last of the residue, Shiro noticed the bindings were all gone. It didn’t matter; he couldn’t do anything. Keith swept the Prince into his arms and carried him out of the water. Shiro pressed himself into the dry armor as the cold pricked his skin, closing his eyes to block out anything but the warmth.

The cold damp changed quickly, and Shiro perked up. Keith must have opened a portal again, as a fire was roaring gently beside him in a carved mantle place. His weary eyes looked from wall to wall, taking in the shelves full of old tomes, some in languages he had never seen. The warm light danced across their surfaces and in a worn armchair was the Dark Paladin, sipping tea and reading a book.

Keith ignored him even as Shiro stirred to find himself in between several pelts of pure snow white dire wolf pelts. It was a rarity to even have one of the thick, luxurious pelts of the beast. Their long, hand-length hairs provided ample warmth in the coldest of climates and were the softest known to both man and fae.

A plate of toast and tea sat near him, and the Prince moved as little as he could to sip the piping hot tea and nibble at the toast. He was too tired to eat or drink much; he felt as if his ill-fated attempt to escape had drained more than just his spirits.

The light he had was growing dim, and he was seeing things that caused him to pause. The Dark Paladin hadn’t punished him. Though he had been bound, it was so he wouldn’t have to think about moving. The Dark Paladin had washed the filth with tenderness and care.

Now, as the Prince curled naked under the furs, he wondered: what did the Dark Paladin see in him? What made him so special, to be captured and demanded to be someone’s willing—yes, willing, as Keith claimed—consort? He was just a prince who wanted to make the world brighter and to ease the burdens of those in need.

Yet, he wondered if it wasn’t because he was born of high blood that Keith had targeted him. There were other princes and princesses, but the man demanded Shiro’s attentions.

The Prince spotted the Dark Paladin’s soft and worried expression as he drifted to sleep. Shiro’s last thought was questioning why he suddenly cared about what Keith saw in him.

* * *

 

The rain continued, but Shiro sat in the dining room spooning a hearty beef stew into his mouth. The cold chill didn’t bother him, as he was dressed in fine red wool petticoats—at last, a dress fit for the cold. The black gathered high neck collar was plain compared to most of his outfits, but he had been given a multi-strand silver necklace with diamonds to compensate. Little diamonds dangled from his ears, and his crown was less spartan in design with its quintet of diamonds as the sole jewels.

Shiro sucked in a breath as he set the spoon down; his legs instinctively wanted to spread out much further than possible.

The Prince drifted as he pictured a grand feast with many nobles chatting idly and dining away on rare beasts. He wore a stately dress with a large skirt with petticoats to support each petal-shaped gored panel. Abnormal for a prince, but this was fantasy.

It was a marriage feast, with wine and spirits flowing free. Dancing and festivity abound in the room.

The Prince bit his lip as his chest heaved and collapsed.

None were the wiser.

The Dark Paladin’s hands were against his legs and his panties were on the carpet. He felt the lips kissing his tip, the gentle licks on his balls. Now, underneath the petticoats, the Prince was being fucked. His aroused cock once again in the Dark Paladin’s mouth.

He kept his composure, as he would in his fantasy, imagining his own consort clandestinely servicing him and when he tried to imagine the sight below him, he saw the Dark Paladin’s flushed lips eagerly wanting to taste him.

When he… no,  _if_ he agreed, would Keith take him like this often? A game of a different sort to see if someone noticed that Shiro’s flush was not of fine drink but of the sweetness of pleasure?

He tired to pick up the spoon again, but instead, his hand went to his mouth to silence any forthcoming noise. The muscles in Keith’s throat swallowed his cum as he orgasmed with a lustful sigh. There would be no mess, no evidence other than the redness that tinted his cheeks and lips, and the dazed look of release as his body shifted after containing his improper lewd act between his thighs.

The Prince was trapped in a cage still, but instead of being tied and restrained physically, he was trapped by his own mind. Shiro had tried to run, but he was still here, his body raked by wants and pleasures.

Dreams of the Dark Paladin touching him, of asking his captor to bind him tight and service his sexual needs cursed his sleep. He switched from horrified, when he thought of his kingdom and kin, to elation when Keith was near him.

The chains were still there, but they were not to be seen.

* * *

 

By the next night, the stress of Shiro’s thoughts and indecisions had grown too much for him to bear. Whatever he had done yesterday, he forgot by the next morning. Whether it had been a comment about the food or whether he had tried to call Keith’s bluff, it was all a fog now in his memories. The days and night blurred together as the storm was overhead, providing a soundtrack of lulling drones.

The only certainty he had that a day had passed was a prompt bath and grooming session and a change of dress. Even then, the Prince could have been mistaken, as he had at times been reclothed for a meal or a chaperoned stroll in the courtyard. 

Well, at least this would stand out. Shiro’s arms had been tied behind his back, and he was strapped down, kneeling in a blushing pink gown on a wine red cushion with his eagerness showing itself in the form of the bulge trapped behind the silk, prominent even through the layers.

“Your Highness, we’re almost done,” Keith whispered into his ear.

“I won’t be your consort,” Shiro rejected promptly with eyes narrowed.

“Hmm, but you did enjoy having your royal dick sucked. Perhaps you need something...unique to finally charm you into accepting my offer.” Keith stepped around him before striding to a table with peculiar instruments.

The Dark Paladin lifted one up: it was shaped oddly, made of heavy metal with a large bulb on one end that tapered in the middle until it flared back out. A little ring was at one end, with tiny bells and crystals hanging from it.

“You’ll enjoy this, Prince Takashi.” Keith held it up to the Prince’s face, “It’ll be unpleasant at first, but it’ll make you mewl. Of course, if you are not—”

“ _I won’t be your damned consort, Keith!_ ” Shiro hissed.

Keith sighed and disappeared from the Prince’s sight.

Shiro’s mind raced, but before he could voice any protest at the possibilities, Keith pressed the Prince’s back down and pulled his skirt up. The pink panties were pulled down, leaving his ass easily accessible. It was going in there! Keith was applying a lubrication on his rim, and he was going to be penetra-.

The shock from the cold cause his stomach to tense up. With very little resistance, the large hefty instrument slipped into him and settled in its place with the chime of bells. His insides felt strangely full, and the little bulb was pressing against a spot inside him that he never knew he had. Shiro’s stomach rolled as his cock dripped percum.

Unpleasant. Keith was right about that, but the longer it stayed in, the more that changed as his thoughts kept lingering on it. How the instrument plied his flesh open and how it didn’t feel like it was splitting him apart as he feared, but nestled inside his gut.

And.

And it felt wonderful with how it hit his prostate. It pushed against his muscles and he heaved in his bindings. The pleasure hit the back of his head and left him shaking when it registered. His cock twitched uselessly as the wet spot on his crotch spread with each passing second.

“Please,” Shiro begged as he arrived at a conclusion.

“Hmmm?” Keith tilted his head, eyes finally looking at the Prince’s face instead of how his muscles tried in vain to manipulate the instrument inside.

“I want...” Shiro curled into himself as much as he could.

He wanted release. It was starting to hurt, the need to get over that ledge. Sweat was building up from the agony and even with his strength, the bindings were too restricting, too limiting to allow him rock and thrust onto it. The ringing of silver bells were the only indication of his attempts to throw himself in the wet hot embrace.

“What do you want, Shiro?” Keith bent down, hints of a flush on his own face at seeing the Prince reduced to such a pathetic state.

“I want to cum. Please. Please,” Shiro weakly pleaded. “Please, Keith.”

Shiro had no control over his body or mind. Everything was up to the whims of Keith, who had complete power over his weakened form. The Prince was reduced to groveling, asking for help with something so private that it would cause a scandal if revealed. It was maddening for him as the scandalized thought repeated itself. 

Keith smiled.

Instead of touching the Prince’s cock, the traitorous Dark Paladin wrapped his hands through the loop on the instrument and started to rock it back and forth. The tip of the bulb expanded, teasing his insides.

With head pressed into the Dark Paladin’s chest, he confirmed the prophecy given: he mewled. His pedicured toes curled in his heels as his head felt as if he was swimming in stardust: everything was glittering in his vision as his euphoria heightened.

The Prince shouted in ecstasy, and if he could form words he would have been screaming his declarations of joy at the man who had kidnapped him, bored into him, transformed him slowly.

His rose-painted lips opened wide when he finally tumbled over the edge into sexual bliss. Cum spread itself over his body, soiling everything it touched.

“You did wonderfully, Your Highness.”

Shiro’s eyelids fluttered with satisfaction.

The Prince was hopelessly trapped in silk and jewels.

* * *

The rain was starting to let up, and Shiro felt the cloud lifted from his mood.

The ground in the courtyard was still damp, but instead of the torrent, it was a calming drizzle. He often perched under the gazebo and watched for the small bits of life that occupied the castle. The rainbow titmice, bluejays, and cardinals were a welcome flash of color among the dull green foliage and grey marble.

Shiro pulled the black fur stole close to his skin as the air was still chilled. The black fascinator with a netted veil that covered part of his eye with a large cerulean pheasant plume was a change from the usual bejeweled creations, but it was perfect for the only exercise he had gotten. There was a pattern to the Dark Paladin’s madness that amused Shiro, with a dress of mostly blue with white and black pleated trim.

He matched the bluejays.

But unlike them, his wings were clipped. He had food, shelter, and forms of entertainment, yet no way to spread his wings to fly while the birds were free to touch the sky that the Prince longed for.

It was close to dusk, and the birds settled in their dry, warm nests.

“Black,” Shiro murmured as the dark color the heavens metamorphosed into reminded him of his precious friend.

The Prince stood up and opened up his umbrella before stepping out into the rain. He was looking forward to the warm bath and scented soaps. There was speed into his step to get inside, and as he made his way to the changing room, his skin was ready to soak as he heard the sounds of the flowing water that awaited him.

The shadows were not there to undress him. They had always been there, like silent ghostly sentinels.

Well, perhaps he was early.

He hung the stole and gloves promptly onto a hook and unpinned his fascinator, letting his white tuft fall onto his head. The bodice and skirt fell to the floor without a care. He looked at the polished silver surface of the wall mirror. His mother would have been happy that his posture had improved, despite the method.

Shiro inhaled deeply as he unlaced the corset and unfastened the busk. He unbuttoned the thigh-high boots—which, in practicality, should have been removed first—and stripped himself of the silk and wool stockings. The garter belt came next, and he finally removed the final piece, a black silk thong.

The bath was soothing as he stepped in, the water kissing his skin with heat. He settled to the side to meditate as the white petals of rain lilies and gardenias floated among the lit candles.

Shiro didn’t realize he had company until he heard the water moving.

The Dark Paladin looked at him as if he were shocked to see Shiro.

Shiro’s breath stalled in his chest. The Dark Paladin was in the nude, and his skin glistened as the water dripped off of his lithe muscles.

Keith was beautiful as much as he was evil. His raven locks curled around his face and his lips parted as if he were hesitating. Those indigo eyes were wide and bright, and cleverly tricked him into thinking the Dark Paladin was anything other than an innocent young man. There were scars, but they did not detract from his handsome form.

Shiro had to dart his eyes away as his they kept gliding toward the more personal areas of the Dark Paladin’s body. The Prince had to chase away the idea that the man was well-endowed for his body type as he wanted to oust the unwanted instincts that churned within.

Those eyes looked Shiro up and down before speaking. “Your Highness.”

Shiro nodded as he now was trained to.

“Let me wash you.” Keith reached out his hand to the Prince. 

He hesitated, of course. After everything that Keith had done, he couldn’t tell if any choices he had were safe and lead to him escaping. He already tried that. He failed.

Shiro looked at his reflection in the water, the cosmetics on his face still coloring his face.

The Prince took the hand.

With a gentle touch, Shiro was washed clean, lips and face bare as the rest of his body and his hair smelling of flowers. What was more intoxicating was the body heat of Keith. It lured Shiro in and it made him painfully aware that he missed the company of others that had once been normal.

Simply stated, he was not touch starved, but touch undernourished. He wasn’t so hungry to offer himself for any skin-to-skin contact, but the Prince was not against it.

He was nearly prostrate against the wall of the bath when he heard the question in the shell of his ear as two hands were tenderly rubbing his abdominal muscles.

“No. Do what you will but, I won’t be your consort.” Shiro firmly rejected him once again, and kept still as the hands went down below his belly.

He hummed as the Dark Paladin placed his hands on Shiro’s cock. The question was always asked before times like this. Even as his captor pressed his lips against his back as if they were kisses of love, Shiro remained strong.

The hands took him in an illicit embrace, stroking the base of his cock slowly to build up Shiro’s erection. It was lazy, how Keith took his time touching him, going over the veins and curves of his dick with a feather touch.

The Prince let the Dark Paladin set the pace and the build-up was strangely relaxing. His cheek pressed against cold stone and his hip jutted just so for easy access. He was not drowning in the sea of bodily lust. It felt more akin to floating on top of a gentle river.

Shiro buried his face in his arms as his breathing became more labored. The noises he made were soft, as he didn’t want the Dark Paladin to think he was entirely promiscuous as he suggested.

As his shoulders tensed and relaxed, Shiro wondered what Keith gained from this other than a vile satisfaction of domination. He also wondered why he cared so much to think about that. The kisses spread over his back and spine, and Shiro saw how red and large his erection had become. It twitched with excitement as Shiro saw slender digits manipulating his cock just so.

Shiro closed his eyes. He was tired from the day.

He came with no fanfare or fireworks but with only a refreshed sigh and the telltale hot milky-white fluid as proof.

The Dark Paladin cleaned him after and Shiro thought nothing of it.

* * *

Shiro sat in the chair and let the shadows do their work. Letting them manipulate his limbs to shave him as they always did. Rub in the lotions to soften his skin. Lacquer his nails a dark silver. Use waxes and gels to style his hair just so.

It was funny how he had become used to it.

He knew when to close his eyes when they made his already long lashes seem longer and how to line them just so. Powder of pearls traded by mermaids and pixie dust on his face and body. A touch of pigments from gems on his lips. The hands didn't need to force Shiro to tilt or make a face.

The shadows offered a hand and Shiro took it.

_ Black silk. _

Keith knew Shiro was breaking down, becoming apathetic to his royal duty. The Prince would have once felt hot tears on his face or anger, but he felt nothing as the hands helped dress him. The silk panties felt strange on him as they went on; maybe they were made of lace. Shiro didn't check.

The corset this time was beautiful. It appeared black in the low light, but there were splashes of bright colors in violent, magenta, and blues, and little silver metallic stitches on it like a shimmering galaxy of stars. He was laced in tighter this time, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as he thought it would be.

A black garter belt and stockings completed the undergarments. Shiro spared a look at the mirror, avoiding his face but taking in his body as the hands fetched his gown and jewels. His nipples were red and perky, and Shiro was painfully aware that he looked good with the way the corset pushed his waist in and how each piece fit together, both molding him and around him.

'Wanton.' Keith had said that to him. The prince looked away, shocked by his own thoughts.

Shiro closed his eyes and kept them shut.

He didn't want to see it.

He didn't want to see the gown as it was put on. He didn't want to accept these thoughts as his as the hands lifted his arms and pulled the gown on him and fastened it. It felt so soft on his body, and he could hear the way it crinkled as he fidgeted. Cold, heavy metal was placed around Shiro's neck, making him shiver down his spine. Dangling earrings were placed in Shiro's lobes, and he felt a circlet placed around his head, the hands sweeping and placing his hair with precision.

At last the shadows lifted each foot, fitting them with high heels. Shiro no longer wavered with the added height.

It was then Shiro opened his eyes, hoping that now that he was firmly in control of his thoughts and emotions.

Shiro felt his stomach drop.

His eyes were lined in black as usual, but his lips had a dark garnet gloss in the middle of it, making it look as if Shiro had just been kissed.

But the sum was more than the parts.

His dress was dark silver going to pitch black past the bust with black jewels. The neckline was low, but there was support in the dress and Shiro knew that the events of the first night wouldn't happen again. The skirt was full and wide, made of yards and yards of silk, and that was when Shiro noticed that the jewels became more concentrated at the hem.

Even his shoes weren't plain, the abyssal black once again but with tiny jewels on them. The heels, Shiro noticed, had a silver inlay of constellations.

Betrayal hit Shiro when he saw the most obvious thing: the jewelry. The black metal circlet had carved designs in it, and his earrings of white gold brushed the sides of his face with chains ending with a black faceted teardrop jewel.  Around his neck was a dark silver wide collar that covered his collarbone and the upper part of his shoulders. Rows and columns of black jewels studded it and at the end of each other column was a thin jeweled chain cascading around his body.

Shiro was the epitome of the night sky.

He.

He felt _beautiful_.

_Powerful_.

_ Dark and glittering. _

This reflection was _also_ him. In the little valleys among those who spoke other languages, they called him Prince of the North Star, for he shone in the darkest of nights to lead them to safety. A prince that always served his people with the light in his heart.

And yet here was, his darkness bedecked with jewels and finery to tempt him. The Dark Paladin was showing him what he could be, a force of selfish evil.

He looked at his nails: dark silver, but at the tips, that silver transition darker and darker until pitch black.

Shiro must always remember that even the night sky had light—those of the stars—and that he must hearten himself to Keith's machinations. 

The rain stopped as Shiro walked to the dining hall for breakfast, and he saw the clouds had parted. It was a sign, perhaps, if was he bold enough to claim it. But what that sign meant was not one he was privy to.

It was a simple breakfast with no Dark Paladin bringing his shadows with him and darkening the atmosphere. Toast, a hard-boiled egg, fresh berries in cream, and simple tea. It was a pleasant change from the decadence, but despite that, he still sweetened his tea with the fresh raspberry honey

Instead of leading himself to the courtyard alone, a quartet of shadows formed into guards for him. They followed his trail, keeping in step with him. It was natural for him to stand before the doors as two of the shadows came forward to open them.

There was a chorus of birdsong as, if the birds were announcing his arrival, and there was the Dark Paladin, waiting for him. He ignored the improper reaction as the man looked at him, as if somehow Shiro had struck him with his only his presence alone. As Keith recovered, he went to Shiro.

The ground was dry and the garden was starting to bloom in full, with more colors than Shiro had ever seen before. The castle was nothing but abandoned ruins. Walls were naked to the elements returning it to its true nature. The bones of the building were in the process of being picked clean.

“Your Highness.” Keith offered his hand and Shiro took the black kid leather glove without looking at the man.

He kept his head high, birds constantly darting in front of his view as bees and butterflies journeyed to each blooming flower. Squirrels with soft bushy tails climbed on the branches of the tall trees. Gardenias, tulips, rain lilies, roses, other remnants of the once manicured garden were now running free and wild. The unwanted ‘weeds’ that the palace gardeners huffed to remove were amongst the favored blooms.

This chaos was the most beautiful view he had ever seen.

It was when they ended the long stroll that he realized that the Dark Paladin was so close to him—and what he was wearing.

The Prince also thought the man was warm, like a fire, and this clothing embodied that element to the fullest. A sleeved crop white waistcoat was strange on the Dark Paladin, but the gold diamond pattern that mimicked flames embroidered on it suited him, as did the vest of crimson red with a blouse of fine black linen and black leather pants.

It was strange to see the man’s wild hair groomed in an attempt to tame it, but the clip of red garnets set in gold did also show off the man’s elegance.  It still a pity for reasons he couldn’t quite admit to himself that Keith tried to look more in control. Shiro knew it was for him, but he didn’t like the implications of Keith’s display.

The Dark Paladin bid him goodnight with a bow and the Prince was now left alone and aware of his predicament. He was lost and far from home. Unconsciously he headed to his room, but stopped in a particular hallway.

He turned to the wall and saw again his full body in the reflection of the silver mirrors that lined it.

He saw the universe and it was _everything_. 

Light. Darkness. Hope. Despair. Life. Death. Purity. Corruption.

Shiro then turned to look out the windows. The land outside the castle’s outer walls was a sea of gold and green with grasses and shrubs. His heart was strangely empty as he saw it. No regret. No longing. Nothing.

Prince Takashi Shirogane looked away from the windy prairies. He had mapped out every inch of the castle except one. The Prince knew what was in that hallway and what awaited him if he dared to go there. It was danger most certainty.

If anything, Shiro wanted to be remembered for his bravery.

His words were his sword. The jewels and silks that shimmer in the stars’ light were his armor. There was no rushing as he walked into unfamiliar territory. His eyes did not stray to take note of the decor. He was a prince, and he remembered it well. Battle training was only one part of his education and there were many parts.

As the jewels clinked with each step, Shiro let his resolve sharpen into a blade.

The large wooden door did not bar him as he opened it. It revealed a room with the most spartan decor compared to the grandiosity of the rest of the castle with fine crimson linens that contrasted the silks in Shiro’s room.

The Dark Paladin was there in only black leather pants and nothing else, eyes widening at the intrusion as if Shiro was a madman. Maybe the Prince was, as he crooked his neck at his captor with the sparkling jewels making him seem more deity than man in that moment.

He was here to take back what was stolen from him. Whatever it was, perhaps Shiro’s soul, it was time for Shiro to lose his inhibitions and finally strike. His painted lips parted to show his weapon.

Keith’s indigo eyes narrowed and with a flick of his wrist, Shiro had his wrists cuffed together. Shiro stood, stoic, as his veins were as cold as the castle itself. He was used to the tricks employed by the Dark Paladin to toy with him. The shackles pulled Shiro forward to the man, who looked as if he had caught Shiro in a trap.

“My, my, entering the lion’s den? How very...clumsy of you, my dear prince.” Keith cradled Shiro’s face with a hand.

Shiro could feel the darkness that channeled itself within Keith, the shadows conjuring all around him and threatening to consume whatever he had. But he stood tall as Keith’s other hand cupped Shiro’s groin, and he wondered if Keith could feel his arousal through the dense layers of fabrics.

“Still stubborn, resistant in letting yourself be free. Still a martyr waiting to go back and waste away slowly in futile efforts and dire hopes of improving the lives of not only those in your kingdom but of the world.” Keith swayed and bobbed his head, sizing up Shiro with judgment.

Shiro knew he would not be found wanting, as that was what the Dark Paladin deemed him as since he woke up in this isolated castle. Standing with grace and looking down at Keith, he kept his focus on the task at hand.

The Prince knew the rules of the Dark Paladin’s game by now.

“You are a prince. Are you not, Shiro? Perhaps you want to be something other than that? Princes fight. They save others. They are used until they get married off to become kings and breed princes that need to rescue and princess that need of rescue.” Keith paused as if he knew Shiro was doubting his noble lineage and the noblesse oblige that comes with it. “Or they die tragically and be forgotten.”

Erasure of identity in two different ways in the annals of history.

Keith’s breath was hot as he closed the small gap between them, sliding his bare arm against Shiro’s backside.

The Prince knew how to _cheat_.

“As your consort,” Shiro’s voice quivered with barely concealed exhilaration, “I order you to fuck me.”

The Prince’s chest burned during the standoff, as if the Dark Paladin knew how to command not only shadows but also those of hearts. Uncertainty filled his head, not of what Keith’s next action might be, but of who Shiro was. What was he anymore? Prisoner? Captive?

Was he still a prince, or was he now something more than the crown that the divine luck of the universe had placed upon his head as he exited his beloved mother’s womb?

“Do you accept?”

The question was brought to him, and Shiro looked at those once all-consuming eyes. There was anxiety in them, as if Shiro was holding everything the Dark Paladin wanted in his hands.

And Shiro, the once-sweet prince who sang in the palace’s garden among the rose spirits and fairies, fully understood.

“ _Yes_. I will be your consort.”

Keith rushed to him and Shiro almost went limp from the touch alone as the Dark Paladin pressed him onto the bed. Every inch of naked skin that Keith could reach was kissed and sucked, and it made Shiro melt.

The muscles of his body tensed and relaxed under each sensation, and his toes curled as Keith kissed the nape of his neck, first feeling the heat of the man’s mouth and then the coolness of the air. Shiro didn’t want to move as the desire for Keith to touch him took over.

The Prince groaned with disapproval as Keith stopped, but hearing the unfastening of pants quickly changed his attitude. It was really happening. The Dark Paladin was going to take away the last game piece he had. No, he was letting it go.

The idea of Keith taking him left his cock hard. The Dark Paladin was pulling his skirt up, and Shiro heard the sucking in of breath at the sight of Shiro’s pert ass. It made him smile. He was desirable.

He moaned as he felt Keith’s hands on him, touching his rump, rubbing under the corset. Keith listened to each sound Shiro made: if the Prince moaned loudly when the man focused on one area of his insides, the Dark Paladin paid extra attention to it until he was composing a symphony with Shiro’s cries of lust.

And that’s when Shiro figured out the strangeness of the panties as Keith pushed Shiro’s legs apart. There was a slit in the back for access. He was truly under the spell of the Dark Paladin, as his thought wasn’t of Keith’s deviousness, but how he would be truly dressed -as the silk panties wouldn’t have to be taken off- and that he would feel the cool silk against his now-sensitive cock as he was bedded.

Keith’s hands flowed over Shiro’s inner thighs, taking time to enjoy each muscular curve. The Prince arched himself up, presenting his needy hole that demanded to be filled. The tip of Keith’s cock pressed against the rim, just he wanted.

“Now, shall we consummate our matrimony?” Keith whispered into his ear, husky and full of want.

Shiro nodded many times over and could see the grin on Keith at seeing the Prince’s eagerness. He felt wet and slick, an odd sensation that confused him until he felt fullness. Keith had shown himself to be a gentleman, as Shiro only felt gentle pressure from the insertion.

Shiro exhaled as his legs quivered. Keith was inside of him. His dick. His perfect dick was inside him. It was as if they were made for each other. Then Keith started to thrust, slowly, softly, as if he were making love to Shiro.

The Prince lay still, letting the Dark Paladin use his body. In turn, Shiro clenched the linen and moaning. Clouds passed through his mind, and all his worries were gone like a gentle breeze. Keith hit and rubbed against his insides, finding spots that made Shiro coo.

His own cock was wet as Keith rocked into him, gaining speed and holding him down onto the mattress. Even then, it wasn’t rough. The Prince noticed the subtle changes in the angles of each thrust as if they were seeking for the sweetest of all spots.

Pleasure came in waves, and he whimpered when Keith found it. The Prince’s breathing became erratic as each thrust started to build up the pressure inside. His cock twitched, trapped in the wet silk. If the Dark Paladin weren’t holding his hips up, Shiro would buckle.

His mind grew fuzzier, and his thoughts turned. Keith. The Dark Paladin. His husband.

As jewels swing from his neck and he glanced over to the small mirror on a table, this was not feral mindless fucking. The Dark Paladin was enraptured, his eyes lidded and mouth parted with such focus on his bejeweled prince. It was too much to see himself being served, being adored, having such devotion lavished upon him.

This was what he desired.

His husband groaned as he thrust harder and paused. As soon as it registered to Shiro that the Dark Paladin was filling him up. The haphazard, post-orgasmic thrusts combining with a hand over his panties to wring out Shiro’s own arousal, ending it quickly as Keith squeezed him through the fabric.  After a moment, Keith pulled out.

The former prince was shocked. He thought that now that Keith had gotten what he desired, he would go in like a starving wild beast, devouring Shiro like he was a fattened stag in winter, fast and savage. Yet, Keith's lovemaking, as it was truly that, was methodical. Each slow thrust into Shiro had been calculated to make him purr with pleasure and his toes curl with each pulse. It was unexpectedly gentle, and the Dark Paladin received an equal thrill from how Shiro clung to Keith with each rock of the hips.

Shiro pressed his painted lips against Keith's nape and wrapped his hands around the small of the dark paladin's back. It was good. It was very good. This was what it would be like to be the Consort of the Dark Paladin. Not terrorized and toyed with deep desires come true, but able to demand that love outright and be given it upon a silver platter.

He was cold as the warm heat and Keith vanished.

Shadows removed his dress and… Shiro felt the cum inside of him.

Visions of Keith pumping him more, giving him all that that Dark Paladin could make, filled his mind. His ass felt empty without Keith inside. The entrance was loose and wanting as Shiro touched and felt how it wanted to grab onto his fingers and pull them in.

Shiro wanted more. He wanted Keith to pump him full of that sweetness until it dripped out of him and fat drops rolled down his thighs. His cock was hardening at each fantasy. His chest tightened with the excitement of imagining Keith thrusting into him over and over as cum sloshed inside.

Shiro reached around and, with his fingers stretched his ass open and bared it before his husband.

“Fill it up until it leaks out,” he commanded with a greedy lopsided smile.

The Dark Paladin narrowed his eyes darkly at his consort.

The noble prince Takashi Shirogane was dead. Long live the vain tyrant Takashi Shirogane.

* * *

 

Awake was a state that came too early. Keith rubbed the ointment to mask the holes where his earrings were worn as he always did.

“I wish this would last forever,” Shiro whispered as Keith massaged his scalp with shampoo, as Keith always did.

“You are a prince. You are the only heir to the most important kingdom in the realm,” Keith stated, as if he too grieved. 

Many moons ago, a knight in black summoning shadows to ward off a foul beast had appeared before the prince. Despite the jet black armor, torn red cape and the overall ominous appearance, the knight’s heart was as brave and just as the prince’s. Together, they defeated the beast.

Their souls were linked together; the cosmos dreamed of them and the stars fated them as such. But, alas, the prince must tirelessly be there for his kingdom. Despite being apart from the other, they communicated their most private of thoughts and desires. Their bond strengthened until they put together a ruse.

The kingdom was in peril, their prince was kidnapped by a dark paladin. However, he miraculously freed himself some time after. The foul villain always pledged to return.

Both were fairy tales in that only told half the story, their story.

Once upon a time, a young prince went to save a unicorn. He rescued her, but was hopelessly lost in the foul mire until a small boy searching for his family found them. The young boy knew how to treat magical beasts, as his mother and father had left him under the watch of one-such magical beasts who raised him as her own.  

They had to part, but the young prince had been joined by the unicorn as he returned home, for a unicorn never forgot the kindness of others. The young prince had watched as the great red mare and the small boy disappeared into the swamp.

That night, the young prince whispered to the flower that blooms at night his wish to meet the small boy again. 

Years later, the Prince and the unicorn had been fighting against the great lich Zarkon and his army when he was rescued once again. It was the small boy who came. Year later, he was now a young man with frightening magical powers after finding his mother’s kin, but the great red mare was there with him, leaving short-lived flames in the wake of her hooves.

Prince Takashi Shirogane knew that it was his kind-hearted Keith even without the mare by his side. His forgotten wish came true. 

From that day on their bond grew and Shiro was rescued from himself by Keith.

The knight had done what they both wanted.

Shiro, freed from his royal duty, treated as fragile and delicate, something to adorn with ornaments and adore, and most of all to be desired for existing. Keith was able to take care of him, show his love to him, and have power over him for a short time. The power exchange was perfect and their trust in each other was absolute.

Keith would always ask him a certain question, even when they had discussed details during their nights before the Prince was stolen away by his beloved. Shiro adored that about him even when he was deep in character. His precious knight Keith always kept his role of a lovestruck villain of pulp fairytale up but still let the depth of his true affection and care show. It was this pure emotion that made it hard for Shiro, playing the part of a captured damsel being seduced, to not accept that offer of being a consort outright. 

His knight was just that charming under his chaotic and shadowy exterior.

Shiro laid still, those hands warming life into his limbs—even his metal prosthetic right arm that channeled dark magicks—and combed his sweat-slicked hair. He blinked as looked at himself in the mirror. Here, in the ruins of the old royal palace, he was safe to be himself and be honest with his wants.

Tomorrow, Shiro would go back to his kingdom, wear his circlet high as everyone cheered for his return. They would ask him to battle dragons and witches. Be their hero, their champion. Ask him for favors from the crown and settle their disputes as he signed royal decrees in preparation for succeeding the throne until the candle burns out in the dark hours. 

The knight would come and save him when Shiro asked him to. Rip Shiro away from falling down into the void and breaking down from his burdens. Wrap him in delicate clothes and rich jewels, and treat him as if he could break even as Shiro pretend to resist Keith’s charms. Keith would accept the control Shiro offered and wield it against him. The Prince was always left wanting more, another day to be the damsel, the blushing maiden being fought over. Another day of feigning resignation of being stolen and in distress for all eternity, tempted and seduced by dark desires and a shadowy lover who knew what he was under the facade until finally joining with his in dark matrimony.

Shiro smoothly looked at Keith, his beloved knight, and contently smiled, "How many times are you going to save me?"

Keith bent over Shiro's prone form and brushed the back of his hand on his cheek and returned the soft smile. "As many times as it takes."

Their lips met as they both turned to embrace each other and plan for their next adventure.  

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, kudos, and comments! Hope you enjoyed the costume porn and ... the costume porn. 
> 
> My twitter is: [RukaIsAFan](http://www.twitter.com/RukaIsAFan)


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